


burning impulse

by Narcissos



Category: Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Apologies, Canon Compliant, F/M, First Kiss, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, M/M, Misunderstandings, Other, Takes place before chapter 99, Truth or Dare, You asked Senkuu out because of a dare and this is the result
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-19 00:28:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29498853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narcissos/pseuds/Narcissos
Summary: Teenagers can be mean.In the stone world, the consequences of your past actions were bound to come up. You know that now, but is an apology really enough to clear the air?[Senkuu/Reader]
Relationships: Ishigami Senkuu/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 52





	burning impulse

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking about the most foolish thing you could possibly do to piss Senkuu off. Then, I let it snowball.
> 
> [Title paraphrased from Rakuen/楽園 by Fujifabric]

Since your revival some few months ago, you'd felt a lot like cattle.  
  
Being shunted back and forth for manual labour was… taxing. Tsukasa didn't shy away from using the citizens of his empire for manpower, but you were grateful to be un-petrified, so you'd endured it.  
  
That was then. Tsukasa was gone now; put back in the stone to bake for a little longer, and the empire had been annexed by the Kingdom of Science. With a new leader at the helm, labour had gotten less physically strenuous (though not by much), yet discomfort came to you in a different form.  
  
"So you knew Senkuu before you guys turned to stone, too?"  
  
The village boy Chrome's question is an innocent one, but it still brings a twinge of displeasure to your chest. You're still not sure who leaked that tidbit of information but having it out in the open makes you feel wholly undeserving of being here.  
  
And, sure your history with Senkuu and his two friends isn't a secret… but it isn't one worth mentioning either. None of them are particularly fond of you and that isn't likely to change. "Yeah," you say evasively. "We went to school together."  
  
"Cool!" he says. "Hey, was he this good at science back then?"  
  
Oh, the things you could tell him about high school. Evenings after swim practice would often find you walking past the science lab… where Senkuu would still be hard at work experimenting with _something_. "I think so. It was harder to tell back then but… it's pretty apparent now."  
  
Way too apparent. Things were remarkably comfortable here. They had a personal chef, currency, and paved roads for god's sake.  
  
"Man," says Chrome, eyes sparkling. "What are odds though, huh? Four of you reviving from—"  
  
 _"Chrome."_  
  
You resist the urge to wince. The door of the laboratory had half-opened to reveal Senkuu himself. Holding a beaker in one hand, his gaze sweeps across the two of you before focusing on Chrome. "C'mere and look at this."  
  
Chrome skips away after bidding you a cheerful goodbye, and you feel your heart plummet when Senkuu gives you a flat look over his shoulder. Within seconds, it disappears along with the rest of him as he closes the laboratory off.  
  
Silence reigns in his wake. Everything is so _uncomfortable_ now.  
  
For the most part, Senkuu would bear your presence here in the village silently, but it doesn't mean anyone else has to. Taiju and Yuzuriha still give you dirty looks whenever the three of you are alone. This guilt would eat you up until you died.  
  
Everyone makes bad choices in high school, but you probably take the cake.  
  
After all, you took Ishigami Senkuu out on a date as a dare… and now he's the king of the stone world.  
  


* * *

  
Kohaku outdoes you in every way except for the more refined technique you have in swimming… and she's insisted on learning it from you anyway.  
  
Warmer afternoons in between searching for oil—at least, that's what you're pretty sure the science team is still doing?—find the two of you in the river cooling down. You do your best to teach, recalling the things your coach would say, and Kohaku picks it up surprisingly quickly. In 2019, she would've been seen as a prodigy, but here she's just a valuable member of the village.  
  
Another thing about Kohaku is how perceptive she is. _Painfully_ so.  
  
"What are you thinking so hard about?" she asks, flexing her shoulder after backstroke practice wrapped up. Her freestyle is more than sufficient for carving through the water, but knowing backstroke would ease her fatigue during longer swims. You're not sure if it's even necessary since the Kingdom of Science is building a ship, but at least it gives you something to do.  
  
Telling Kohaku wouldn't be a good idea. She was one of the closest people to Senkuu, after all. You get back into the water, floating aimlessly. "Just shit I did before I turned to stone."  
  
She furrows her brows.  
  
"If I told you, Kohaku… you'd probably hate me," you sigh. The clouds were gorgeous now that pollution was at an all-time low. The whole world was beautiful, but your discomfort here made it feel hollow.  
  
"Is it about Senkuu?" she wonders. You look at her in alarm and she offers a shrug.  
  
Well, that was awful. You'd really hoped no one could tell except the ones from your high school. "It's my fault."  
  
"What did you do?" she asks, joining you in floating.

"Stupid shit."

"Like what?"

You give her a Look and she smiles wryly. "I won't tell."  
  
"My friends," you start and then think better of it. Beyond their petrified graves, they sure had fucked you over. "Ex-friends," you amend, "dared me to go on a date with Senkuu… and I did."  
  
"A date," she echoes flatly. "But… he said love was a distraction."  
  
Oh, that was for certain. Senkuu only cared for reviving the world and whatnot. He'd always been that way from what you could tell, but he'd still humoured you. "He didn't know it was a dare, so when he found out, it sucked. I should've said no from the start."  
  
She hums to herself. "That must be why he so adamantly rejects everyone."  
  
Ouch. You'd feel even worse if she was right, but it was probably a drag to him like all things unrelated to science were.  
  
"There's no use dwelling on the past, though. Just talk to him."  
  
You grimace. "Senkuu avoids me like the plague."  
  
"The _what_?"  
  
"Never mind," you say, shutting your eyes. "He doesn't want to talk to me."  
  
Kohaku scoffs. "Who cares what he wants? You'll never be absolved of your guilt unless you apologize."  
  
"He's always holed up in his lab," you protest. It sounds like a hollow excuse to your own ears. "If I go now… Gen and Chrome are both there. What then, huh?"  
  
Kohaku splashes you _hard_ and the temperature of the water cools your face down instantly, enough to shock you out of your self-pity. "You keep answering your own questions. Just go when they aren't there. Quit prolonging the inevitable."  
  
Even if Senkuu didn't want to reconcile, at least you'd be able to gauge how much he hated you once you had a chance to talk. On a scale of 1-10, you were hoping for a 4… though it might be a strong 6 at this rate.  
  
That thought keeps you grounded for the next few hours until night falls. When the moon reaches the peak in the sky, you shimmy out of your sleeping bag and make your way over to Senkuu's lab.  
  
At first, you're worried he's already asleep and this is a waste of your time, but through the three-quarter moon shedding its generous light, you catch sight of him up in a tree relaxing. During the day, Senkuu is as busy as can be… but the night is when he's finally capable of slowing down.  
  
He doesn't grace you with a look when you approach the base of his tree. Arms folded behind his head, he calmly asks, "Couldn't sleep?"  
  
"…No," you say instinctively and then stop. Why were you lying? You were here for a damn good reason. "Actually, no. I was looking for you."  
  
He huffs. "Of course. Why else would that lioness insist I come here tonight."  
  
Kohaku was just trying to help in her own, less than subtle way. It brings a tiny smile to your face. You sit down and lean against the tree, staring up at the expanse of stars in the sky.  
  
Taiju and Yuzuriha wouldn't let you get this close to him during the day… like a couple of the most loyal guard dogs imaginable. You wished you'd been so lucky to have friends like that in your previous life.  
  
You pull your knees up to your chest, and take a deep breath. "Senkuu, I'm sorry for what happened. I don't care if it was thousands of years ago or… yesterday or whenever, I'm never going to stop being sorry."  
  
He doesn't say anything, so you continue.  
  
"Letting my friends talk me into doing that was awful enough. Letting it go so far was my fault. That was no way to treat someone. I—"  
  
"I figured it was a dare," interjects Senkuu, his voice quiet. "It was the only logical explanation for why someone like you would talk to me."  
  
"Someone like me?"  
  
"A popular, attractive jock," he says as if that were obvious.  
  
"I'm not a—"  
  
"Be honest. Can you really refute any of those labels?"  
  
You purse your lips to keep from protesting. Your friends had… noticeable popularity, and you coasted along on that reputation to get as many karaoke and concert invitations as you could. People would always watch you at swim meets. Valentine's Day and White Day were both active days for you. Senkuu has a damn point and you know it.  
  
"But when you kept coming to the lab, I had to rethink it. That was a lot of effort for a measly dare," continues Senkuu critically. "I started thinking you wanted your kinesiology homework done or something, but you never brought it up."

"I mean... _would_ you have done it?"

"Hell no," he says with a snort. "I had a bunch of theories 'till your friend confirmed you really _were_ just dared to take me out on all those dates—"  
  
"Date."  
  
He pauses. "What?"  
  
" _Date_ , Senkuu," you correct him. "Just one."  
  
That was the game you'd been inadvertently wrapped up in. Dared to take the 'biggest nerd in the school Ishigami Senkuu' out on a date. You never backed down from a challenge, but you also didn't know when enough was enough.

In fact, you would wager that your high school friends didn't even know you saw Senkuu almost every day after that. That you willingly listened to him ramble excitedly about his latest experiments after your swim practices while your shoulders hurt and your eyes were burning from chlorine. They knew about the one, promised date… but not the successive others.  
  
You stand up again, looking up at him with defiant eyes. "Everything after that first date happened because I wanted it to."  
  
Senkuu's expression is, for once, shocked. His calm mask falters for a fraction of a second before he climbs down from his tree. A light breeze picks up, sending leaves and freed flower petals skittering across the ground between you.

You should say something, _anything_ … but the candour of your own words has rendered you speechless. It was time to go. "I—Look, I'm leaving. I just wanted to tell you that I genuinely liked hanging with you. That part's not fake, and you don't have to accept my apology or anything," you say lamely, turning to head back to your encampment.  
  
"Oi, hold on."  
  
Senkuu seizes your wrist before you can get far. Without turning to look back at him, you wait for him to speak.  
  
"The day the world was petrified, where were you?"  
  
You let out a surprised noise, feeling a lump form in your throat. "Racing through the hallway trying to find you after you blocked my number."  
  
The admission is one that you've kept to yourself a long, long time, but it feels good to finally get it off your chest.  
  
You turn to look at Senkuu, and your heart stutters an unsteady rhythm. The tips of his ears are flushed with heat, noticeable in the moonlight washing over the both of you. Were nights always so _bright_? Since your revival, everything had seemed dark and dreary and coloured in grey.  
  
You realize now that everything depended on Senkuu—this village, humanity, the state of your emotions... _Everything_. It was like you were caught unawares in his orbit all this time. Clarity rushes through you like a raging current.  
  
You lurch forward and kiss him fiercely. Senkuu responds by, _shockingly_ , kissing back, though not nearly as desperately. His lips are a little dry, and he doesn't seem to know what to do with his arms as they hover uselessly at your waist, but he's receptive and that's what matters.  
  
There was hardly a good time for this in the stone world, but for a moment… you wished to delude yourself into thinking otherwise. That for just one minute in time, the two of you were students all over again.  
  
"Idiot," he says quietly against your mouth. "Now's not the time."  
  
"Then stop kissing me," you shoot back, as he leans into it. Softness wanes to intensity as you wrap your arms around his waist and tug him close.  
  
He mutters a very begrudging "Can't", making no move to release you. Senkuu cradles your jaw with one hand and you feel the callouses on his palms scrape your skin.  
  
"If this was anyone else, (Y/n)…" he huffs, pulling back to haul air back into his body. "Damn your freakish swimmer's lungs."  
  
You press your forehead against his, smiling gently. "You know, I've been wanting to do that since you wouldn't shut up about acceleration that one time."  
  
"Oho, is that so? Harbouring a crush on me for over three millennia?" he jeers, squeezing your cheeks together with both hands this time. "Fan behaviour."  
  
"Shut the hell up," you retort before his earlier statements catch up to you. " _Wait_ , can we go back to the part where you called me attractive?"  
  
"That's what you're hung up on?" he asks incredulously. "I have eyes and I use them pretty frequently. Don't tell me there's _still_ chlorine in that head of yours?"  
  
"I just meant that I didn't think you were capable of considering something other than like... cathode-ray tubes sexy," you say, pouting when he squishes your cheeks even more. "Ow! Senkuu—"

He scrutinizes you. "You ever stop to imagine I might think more than one thing can be sexy?"  
  
You feel laughter bubbling inside you, but temper it when he gives you a glare.

"Oi, shut up and listen," he says, letting out a very quiet chuckle. "We can't start anything until we're out of the stone age. There's just too much to do."  
  
Of course. Senkuu was a pragmatist with his priorities in order. You just follow demands out here, but he spearheads the operation. "That's, uh, more than I expected anyway," you sigh. "Kohaku was pretty convinced I turned you off love _forever_."

He offers a careless shrug. "It's a complication we don't need."

Mild hurt must show on your face because he quickly backtracks. "Right now."

"No, I get it," you say, shaking your head. "Even though it'll probably be _years_ …"  
  
"Tch. What kinda confidence is that?"  
  
"I mean… how long until you're done with this whole oil and ship thing alone?" you mutter.  
  
He hums. "Yeah, we're lookin' at a couple more months for the ship, give or take..."  
  
"See?"  
  
"So impatient," he tuts. The hands squeezing your cheeks ease up but he still doesn't let you go. "Just come by the lab whenever you want."  
  
You pause. Was he really allowing you in there just because? Not that you were complaining, but it felt like a big deal. You wouldn't dare let him know you were moved by such an allowance. "Thank you for such a _tremendous_ honour, Senkuu."  
  
He squeezes your face again. "Only the best for my stans."  
  
"Stop that," you say with a laugh, your heart full to bursting. The stone world is no place for such ill-timed emotions, but at least now you think you'll rest a little easier.  
  
And judging by the fondness in Senkuu's gaze that he wipes away when you catch him… the feeling might very well be mutual.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The evening sun sheds its rays of orange and pink, reaching past the tree branches outside to illuminate the inside of the classroom.  
  
Even though you could be home by now, resting in your room after a grueling swim practice… curiosity keeps you in the school. It keeps you in the lab.  
  
Leaning your elbows against the table, you watch in fascination as Senkuu uses some strange machine to measure its mechanical law of motion or something or other. You're barely registering a few words at a time yet he insists on narrating _everything_ like he didn't lose you at the beginning.  
  
His tangent about Newton's 2nd Law mostly goes over your head, but he's so animated about it that you can't help but tease him. "Why are you assuming that the acceleration is constant?"  
  
"An easy kinematic equation can—" His jaw snaps shut as he swivels towards you. "What?"  
  
"What if it's not constant?"  
  
"That could only happen if the net force _miraculously_ became non-constant—"  
  
"Why can't it?"  
  
Senkuu gives you a withering look. "The Atwood Machine is one of the most straight-forward demonstrations of the mechanical laws of motion, plus the experiment's purpose isn't even to…" He narrows his eyes, suddenly trailing off. "Ah, I get it. You're just bored and want to mess with me."  
  
You grin, flicking the string attached to his weird machine. "Riling you up is fun. _Physics_ is boring."  
  
"Without physics, you think that ridiculous backstroke of yours would be possible?" he asks, quirking a challenging brow.  
  
On one hand, you can consider that an implication he's seen you swim which somehow pleases you… but you need to keep him on his toes at all times. "I mean… _obviously_ physics is part of it but it's still boring."  
  
"Ha! Biomechanics is just the tipping point of how thrilling physics can be. Aren't you taking kinesiology? You should be lapping this shit up."  
  
Yet another thing Ishigami Senkuu just knows about you. "Well then wow me with your knowledge of bio-whatever, Professor Senkuu."  
  
He launches into another rant about the physics necessary to reduce drag in the water, forward propulsions, and whatnot. It seems like he's just _always_ in the science lab wearing his stupid coat doing a veritable amount of sciencey things. You don't know what to think sometimes… but it's a nice routine you've fallen into lately.  
  
Senkuu inadvertently takes a lot of the stress away from life. When you asked him out for your dare, you didn't actually intend to make a friend out of this mega nerd.

The date in question had been surprisingly animated, though not romantic in the least because you would _know_ if it was. He went on a long tirade about radio waves because you mentioned a show you liked listening to, and despite being hard to follow… it was fun to hear him so passionate about something.  
  
Your heart twinges painfully when you realize telling him the reason why you first came here would be excruciating. And yet the day would surely come where you'd have to own up to your mistake. If you could put it off forever, you would.  
  
"Is any of this clicking or is your brain too bogged down with chlorine?" he taunts.  
  
You blink back into the present and give him a faux-offended gasp. "Wow, sorry I'm _such_ a chad and you aren't."  
  
"What's that? You calling me a virgin? Let's hear you say that after I speed that backstroke of yours up by ten billion percent."

"I might not be a science dweeb, but I _think_ you might be overestimating yourself a bit there."

Senkuu chuckles and picks up his obnoxiously large stack of research papers. "What _ever_. Let that sink in while you're on the train."  
  
"Oooh, you kicking me out, Senkuu? Did I touch a nerve after all?"  
  
His lip twitches, on the precipice of a smile. "Nah, I'm done for the day too. Besides, you're stinking the place up smelling like pool water."  
  
"You're so full of shit," you say without any real bite. If you were the honourable sort, you would tell him the truth. You really would. But until that day, these stolen moments would have to tide you over and keep that burning impulse at bay.

**Author's Note:**

> dr. stone has become my addiction please send help
> 
> catch me on [tumblr.](https://mingjues.tumblr.com)


End file.
